


we can dance in an offbeat rhythm

by evaneddie



Category: 9-1-1: Lone Star (TV 2020)
Genre: F/M, lowkey flirting, marjeo ftw bbs, the guys love to tease tf out of mateo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-27
Updated: 2020-02-27
Packaged: 2021-02-28 06:35:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,325
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22919299
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/evaneddie/pseuds/evaneddie
Summary: mateo discovers something he just needs to share with marjan and invites her along with him on their day off
Relationships: Marjan Marwani/Mateo Chavez
Comments: 12
Kudos: 42





	1. do you trust me?

**Author's Note:**

> yes i ship them  
> hope y'all enjoy 💖  
> also i did my absolute best to represent marjan in the most respectful way to her and her religion, but please let me know if anything is out of place for her

Running into the gym area, Mateo bounds the steps two at a time, excitement not only flowing through his entire being, but also evident on his face and with how energised he is. Out of the corner of his eye, he can see TK giving him a side glance full of confusion and amusement. He ignores it, ignores the snort Paul gives him as he jogs past them towards the set of treadmills. As he gets closer, the eagerness in the pit of his belly blooming faster with each step.

"Marjan," he calls, not caring if it draws attention to himself from the others.

As he stands to the side of the treadmill she's using, he notices that he has her earphones in and must be listening to music, so to get her attention without spooking her, he steps awkwardly from her right to in front of her, placing both hands on the control panel, making sure to not press any buttons. He gives her a smile and a goofy wave, watching as she removes one of the earplugs so she can converse with him.

"Hi," states Mateo once she's moved her attention to him with a lopsided grin, confusion muddling her face. "What are you doing tomorrow?"

Her fast pace hadn't slowed down in the slightest, and he's amazed at how well she can control her breathing while running, and still talk as if she's standing still. "What do you mean, Probie?"

Playfully, he rolls his eyes at the nickname, not minding it as much as he used to. "For your day off tomorrow, are you free?"

"I'm probably gonna clean my apartment because it's kind of a mess, and then maybe go for a swim," she replies nonchalantly, knitting her brows together as if to silently question why he's asking.

"Do you have time after that? I have something really cool I need to show you."

There's three pairs of eyes on his back that he can feel boring into his flesh, burning in their wake. He tries to push it to the back of his mind as he looks at his friend expectantly, waiting for an answer.

With the press of a few buttons, the belt of the treadmill slows down rapidly before eventually ceasing all movement. Without having a second thought, he reaches over to grab a towel from the rack nearby and passes it to her so she can wipe at her sweaty face.

"What's so important that I have to give up my day off to babysit you?" 

Okay, that stung a little bit.

"Sorry," she recovers the moment the words leave her mouth. "I didn't mean it like that. What do you want to show me?"

The apology seems sincere, and in seconds, he's already forgotten about it. "It's a surprise."

"I hate surprises," Marjan mutters.

"Do you trust me?"

It seems she thinks about it for a bit, probably milking the fact that she knows teasing him always gets a small rise out of him. "Maybe?"

"Please? Will you come?" For more reasons than one, he doesn't want her to reject his invite. Mostly, it's because he knows she will love it when she sees what it is - well, he hopes so anyways. That, and he wouldn't mind spending time with her outside of work. He's hung out with the entire team as a whole outside of their shifts, mostly going to bars and dancing for a while, or playing darts. But he's yet to spend time with any of them one on one.

She sighs, "I guess so, yeah. Pick me up around eleven?"

"Sweet," Mateo smiles before bouncing off back downstairs to start on cleaning the ladder truck.

Running up and asking her to hang out with him tomorrow had been all that was on his mind the instant he woke up that morning. He'd seen the little place just the day prior when he was walking around town, stumbling across it accidentally before deciding on doing a small amount of research on it. It didn't take him long to know that he had no choice but to bring Marjan by, and hope for the best. It's almost guaranteed that she has no idea about the existence of it, and that thought alone makes him giddy.

Before he can reach the top of the staircase, he gets pulled by his arm to a stop, and a clearing of someone's throat pulls his eyes towards the person.

"What was that all about, huh?" TK smirks, a sly glint in his eyes.

Not really understanding why he's giving this exact reaction, Mateo cocks his head to the side, confused.

"I found a place about forty-five minutes from here that Marjan would like," he speaks, looking over at the woman in question. She's walking towards the bathroom, presumably to have a post workout shower. Come to think of it, the guys could use one soon, too. They stink.

"Ooh, a date?" Paul taunts.

What? No, Marjan doesn't think its a date does she? Oh shit. What if she does think that? Would she find it disrespectful? "Not a date," is all he can say, shaking his head to enunciate the fact that it's just a friendly outing.

"Maybe we can come then?" Judd chimes in, clearly trying to hide his laugh.

They all look as smug as one another, and Mateo just wants to crawl into a ball and hide. 

"It's uh- It's kinda personal," he stutters dumbly, chewing at the inside of his cheek.

He doesn't know really what else he can say, he is unsure if he wants to tell anyone where he's taking Marjan. Not yet anyway, just in case it either gets spilled to her accidentally or they judge him for it. Deep down he knows the latter is the highest percentage of improbability, but that doesn't stop his anxiety from spiking, giving him worst case scenarios on his mind. But another reason he doesn't want to say, is that they may actually love his idea, and then Marjan could hate it. What would he say to the guys then?

"So it's personal, but not a date? Sounds suspicious, Probie." TK lets go of Mateo's arm and moves back to spotting Paul as he lifts weights.

Then, Mateo is gone.


	2. an alleyway? kinda oninous.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> enjoy the second and last part :)  
> let me know if y'all like it!

On the one hand, he's super happy that she agreed to come with him, more than over the moon. Yet on the other, he knows she accepted begrudgingly, and worries that maybe she won't like their outing after all. 

They'd travelled the entire car ride with comfortable chit chat and every now and then Mateo would catch his passenger humming and singing softly to songs on the radio. The sweet sound flows nicely through the car, and Mateo smiles to himself, never having heard her so chilled out before.

Normally, Marjan doesn't show the softer side of herself, not while at work. Sure he's hung around with her when the team had gone out for drinks, but an alcohol fuelled line dance is not the same thing as this. Team outings are nice, but this? This is lovely in a different way. 

He would never say it out loud to anybody, not even himself, but he glances over at her and takes her image in, and thinks to himself that she is the most beautiful woman he's ever met, not only in looks but in heart too. Even the way she dresses when not at the station or a team get together is mismatched. Today she wears a flowy floral shirt and her hijab compliments the pale yellow of the flower design from aforementioned shirt. It isn't braided to the side nor twisted around her head like a headband, it just sits over her hair, hooked under her chin and rests freely over her shoulders.

When they step out of the car, he nods his head in the direction they need to start walking, prompting her to follow him.

"Where are we going, Probie?" she asks. He's shocked it's taken her this long to ask for the first time since yesterday.

Smiling, he shakes his head. "You'll see in about a minute and a half, Marjan," he responds, saying her name with the same tone she used for his nickname.

The only response he gets is an eye roll, at which he laughs. He doesn't know why he annoys the team so much sometimes, but they care about him, and vice versa, so he takes all their bickering at him with a grain of salt. If things were dire, he knows he could count on any single one of them to be by his side as required. Like when he was doing his exams for the final time, they were all supportive and helpful. One on one, he knows they would have his back, but as a team, they're a powerhouse, a force to be reckoned with.

Only now does he notice that the alleyway he's about to turn into is slightly creepy, especially leading a woman down there. Marjan can take care of herself, clearly, but if anyone where to see them walking where they do, it may look a little out of place.

"An alleyway? Kinda ominous," she speaks from her place on his left where she keeps perfectly in stride with him, her facial expressions not coordinated with the worries she communicates with her words, her soft smile not mirroring the uncertainty in her voice.

"Har-har. Trust me, it's so worth it."

At that, he stops outside the glass door he had been on a mission to get to. From the outside looking in, the store looks dimly lit and very dull, but before she says anything, he's pushing the door open and stepping to the side so Marjan can get a better view. 

The cursive letters on the wall outside read Home of Hijabi and he watches happily as she takes every sight in with awe. The smile on her face grows wider as she peeks in the entryway and looks at all the items of clothing placed strategically around the store, glances over the string lights that cover majority of the interior ceiling, and on the back wall is a variety of hijabs.

Everything is colour coded, starting with the greys and whites, slowly morphing into pale colours and then brighter ones. It's unlike anything he's ever seen before.

"How did you find this place? I didn't know it existed," Marjan speaks, still grinning largely.

"It was completely on accident. Go inside, have a look around." Stepping back as far as he can, still holding the door, he waves his hand in front of himself ushering her in.

Marjan crosses the threshold and he starts to release the door, but she stops it with her hand before it can close fully. "You're not coming in?"

Taking a second to form his words, he scratches at the back of his neck awkwardly. "Nah, it isn't my place. I wouldn't want to make anyone inside feel uncomfortable or like I'm being invasive. You enjoy, I'll wait out here."

So he does. He walks down a few more metres to where the falafel place is, and takes refuge at one of the chairs and tables there. He'll wait until she has searched the entire store top to bottom, and will watch random videos in the meantime.

He'll wait for at least ten minutes before ordering food for the both of them. Mateo has never tried a falafel before, but he'd be lying if he said he never wanted to. They'd always looked so good every time he's seen them, and if he doesn't like it, it's no big deal.

It doesn't take long for the familiar face to emerge from the shop with one bag in her right hand and a look of gratitude dancing across her lips.

"This place was amazing," she states when she walks over to him. "Decently priced too, and the ladies were so lovely."

"I'm glad you liked it," he grins in answer.

Marjan doesn't take the seat across from Mateo, but instead decides to move closer to him to thank him properly. "Thank you for bringing me here, Teo, and for being really sweet."

He can barely process the fact that she's that close to him, let alone using a shortened version of his real name, and then she leans down and gives him a small peck on his right cheek. His stupid body betrays him and a pink shade flushes over his cheeks, spreading to the tips of his ears.

That shouldn't make him feel a certain way, but it does, and hell he would love to experience that again one day soon. 

"What?" she asks after pulling back and finally sitting down on the other side of the small round table. "Never been kissed by a girl before, Probie?"

There's barely a breath between the end of her enquiry and the beginning of his response, but he can't stop himself. "Well yeah, I have, but none of them were you."

He swears that if you would be to drop a pin five metres away they could probably hear it between their stunned silences.

"Uh, s-sorry," he stutters, ducking his head to avoid her eyes.

"Don't be."

Change the subject. Do it. Hurry up. 

"I got you two falafels and a water, I hope they taste okay." Phew, that was too close.

"You really didn't have to do all this. Thank you, again."

Maybe the next day when they return to the station the rest of the team still assume it was a date and tease Mateo mercilessly about it. Maybe he doesn't correct them, even though it wasn't technically a date. Maybe Marjan actually sticks up for him after overhearing their ribbing, and maybe that makes his heart flutter more than it should.

But maybe, he is okay with how things are for now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a big thank you to @lovelessmotel on tumblr for the lines:  
> "What, never been kissed by a girl before?"  
> "Well yeah, but none of them were you."

**Author's Note:**

> their song is Lost In You by Khai Dreams


End file.
